The UK high street has suffered a particularly tough two years due to the coronavirus crisis.
Lockdown measures have seen shops temporarily shut for months at a time, while customers were told to stay at home to stop the spread of Covid.
Figures released in September 2021 by the Local Data Company showed more than 8,700 high street chains had closed in 2021.
The actual number is likely to be frighteningly higher once updated figures take into account the last three months of the year.
But footfall in some of the most popular UK stores was on the decline even before the pandemic hit.
High street chains have largely blamed the rise of online shopping and changes in consumer trends for less people visiting branches in-person.
Debenhams is one of the largest names that closed forever in 2021, with the iconic 241-year-old department store now an online-only operation after being bought out by Boohoo in a £55million deal.
Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Burton were three of the main victims of the collapse of Philip Green’s Arcadia retail empire.
These brands were also purchased by Boohoo as part of a £25.3million clinch - but again, they now only operate as online stores.
Banks have also recorded a decline in customers visiting physical branches, as customers take to online banking to complete money transactions.
But what does 2022 have in store for the UK high street? Here are all the places that have confirmed closures so far for this year:
Wilko
Wilko has announced plans to close 15 stores this year, resulting in the loss of around 67 jobs across the country.
The shops earmarked for closure are ones with leases that are coming to an end - so they will shut for good if new terms can't be agreed.
They could still still be saved from closing between now and these dates if new leases are agreed.
The full list of branches affected are:
- Shipley
- Bournemouth
- Stockton
- The Fort (Birmingham)
- Scunthorpe
- Narborough Road (Leicester)
- Grantham
- Redditch
- Rotherham
- Skegness
- Sutton Coldfield
- Edmonton Green
- Llanelli
- Merthyr Tydfil
- Cleethorpes
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Lloyds
Lloyds confirmed back in October 2020 that it would shut 42 of its bank branches between January and April this year.
Parent company Lloyds Banking Group said the closures are linked to changing customer habits, with 18million of its 25million customers now banking online.
Here are the Lloyds banks that are due to shut:
- Amesbury
- Atherton
- Attleborough
- Balham
- Berkhamsted
- Birmingham Cotteridge
- Birmingham Springfield
- Brockworth
- Cambridge Cattle Market
- Coleford
- Crewkerne
- Darwen
- Dorking
- Earlestown
- Garston
- Great Bridge
- Harpenden
- Hatfield
- Hull Holderness Rd
- Kings Cross
- Kirkby-in-Ashfield
- Leagrave
- Leatherhead
- Maldon
- Melksham
- Muswell Hill
- New Malden
- Oxted
- Penarth
- Ponteland
- Portsmouth North End
- Prescot
- Runcorn
- Seaford
- South Kensington
- Southampton Hythe
- St Marys Isle of Scilly
- Sydenham
- Tutbury
- Windsor
- Worthing George V Ave
Halifax
Lloyds Banking Group also owns Halifax, and confirmed it will also shut seven Halifax banks between January and April 2022.
Again, the closures are being blamed on fewer customers visiting branches.
The affected Halifax banks earmarked for closure are:
- Bristol Whiteladies
- Christchurch
- Consett
- East Grinstead
- Portsmouth North End
- Sevenoaks
- Tewkesbury
TSB
TSB has also confirmed a string of bank closures for 2022, with 70 of its physical branches to shut their doors forever.
The move will result in 150 fewer roles within the company.
All the branch closures will take place between April 2022 and June 2022.
The full list of TSB banks closing this year are:
- Aylesbury
- Bath
- Bermondsey
- Bishop's Stortford
- Bromley
- Bury St Edmunds
- Camberley
- Cambridge
- Carolgate
- Cleveleys
- Colchester
- Coldside
- Cirencester
- Denton
- Ealing
- Eastbourne
- Ellon
- Exeter
- Forfar
- Forres
- Fort William
- Frodsham
- Garston
- Gateshead
- Gillingham
- Greenwich
- Harlesden
- Horsham
- Kirkintilloch
- Lanark
- Longbridge
- Louth
- Magdalen Street
- Maidstone
- Market Hill
- Maryport
- Melton Mowbray
- Morden
- Morecombe
- Nelson
- Newbury
- Newton Aycliffe
- Northallerton
- Ossett
- Oxford
- Redcar
- Redditch
- Romford
- Ross-On-Wye
- Rushden
- Sherwood
- Shrewsbury
- Solihull
- Southend-On-Sea
- Stranraer
- Sutton
- Swaffham
- Taunton
- Thornbury
- Thurso
- Tunbridge Wells
- Uxbridge
- West End
- Weston-super-Mare
- Wilmslow
- Wimborne
- Winsford
- Woodseats
- Worcester
- Yeovil
